God's Sovereign Choice
For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Rom 9:3
I could wish... This merely shows his willingness to be cursed, not it is necessity (John 15:13).
myself were accursed... Greek: anathema, accursed (Rom. 9:3; 1Cor. 12:3; 16:22; Gal. 1:8-9).
The Greek word for accursed is anathema meaning “to devote to destruction in eternal hell”.
We see here, in this verse that Paul would have gone to almost any length to have his Israelite brothers come to Christ. He says that he would even give up his own salvation, if this would have saved them. Paul makes it clear here, that these Israelites are his brothers in the flesh, not the spirit. His spiritual brothers are Christians.
Although Paul understood the exchange he was suggesting was impossible, it was still the sincere expression of his deep love for his fellow Jews.
Paul affirmed his deep anguish of heart over the rejection of the gospel by the vast majority of Jews. His desire for their salvation was so strong that he was at the point of wishing (imperf. tense, I could wish) that he were cursed and cut off from Christ for his kinsmen, the Israelites.
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